/****************************************************************************************
*	Mouzetrap - client/server framework	
*
*	$HeadURL: http://mouzetrap.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/Mouzetrap/IObjectPool.cs $
*	$Id: IObjectPool.cs 12 2009-06-12 10:49:38Z tobz@fallenrealms.net $
* 
*	Copyright (c) 2008 Toby Lawrence
* 
*	Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
*	of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
*	in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
*	to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
*	copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
*	furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
* 
*	The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
*	all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
* 
*	THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
*	IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
*	FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
*	AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
*	LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
*	OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
*	THE SOFTWARE.
* 
****************************************************************************************/

namespace Mouzetrap
{
	/// <summary>
	/// Defines an interface for object pools.
	/// </summary>
	/// <typeparam name="T">the type of the objects the pool holds</typeparam>
	public interface IObjectPool
	{
		/// <summary>
		/// The maximum number of objects this pool can hold.
		/// </summary>
		/// <remarks>This will either be a positive integer for fixed-size pools, or 
		/// -1 if the pool has no fixed size.</remarks>
		int MaximumObjects { get; }

		/// <summary>
		/// The total number of objects known to exist by the pool.
		/// </summary>
		int TotalObjects { get; }

		/// <summary>
		/// The number of available objects in the pool.
		/// </summary>
		int AvailableObjects { get; }

		/// <summary>
		/// Adds an object into the pool.
		/// </summary>
		/// <param name="poolObj">the object to add to the pool</param>
		void Fill(object poolObj);

		/// <summary>
		/// Retrieves the first available object from the pool.
		/// </summary>
		/// <remarks>
		/// This may or may not create a new object if none are available, 
		/// depending on implementation.
		/// </remarks>
		/// <returns>an object from the pool</returns>
		object Drain();
	}
}